Interprofessional Education Programme for Nursing and Physiotherapy Students Providing Home-Based Care to Older Adults

NCT07184333 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: HE-T&L2025/03
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 150
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this mixed-methods research is to investigate the impact of interprofessional education on the professional development and clinical skills of nursing and physiotherapy students who provide home-based care to older adults in Hong Kong. The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. 1.Is an interprofessional home-based digital frailty management program feasible for training nursing and physiotherapy students ?
2. 2.Can the training enhance students' skills in providing holistic, home-based care, interprofessional teamwork and communication?
3. 3.Can the training improve elderly health awareness, behavior, and outcomes?
4. 4.Attend a training programme delivered by healthcare professionals, including nurses, physiotherapists, and social workers.
5. 5.Carry out supervised home visits in pairs, working directly with older adults to assess their needs, provide health education, and support healthy lifestyle changes.
6. 6.Use a tablet-based digital platform to record care plans, share information, and follow up with participants.

Conditions

Frailty at Older Adults

Keywords

Interprofessional education; home-based care; frailty; interprofessional collaboration; older adults; nursing; physiotherapy; student

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Changes in students' satisfaction and self-confidence in learning

  This outcome will assess students' satisfaction with the program and their self-confidence in mastering the learned knowledge and skills. The 10-item Modified Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in Learning Scale includes two subscales: satisfaction with the program (items 1-5) and self-confidence in learning (items 6-10). Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 ("Strongly Disagree") to 5 ("Strongly Agree"). Subscale scores are summed, with higher scores indicating greater satisfaction or confidence.

  Immediately after the training workshop; immediately after the follow-up home visit (4-week); three months after the training workshop

Secondary Outcomes (14)

• Changes in students' clinical practice in team and patient interaction

  Prior to the training workshop; immediately after the follow-up home visit (4-week); three months after the training workshop

• Changes in students' perceptions of interprofessional clinical education and collaborative practice

  Immediately after the training workshop; immediately after the follow-up home visit (4-week); three months after the training workshop

• Students' perceived usefulness and ease of use of the digital handover platform

  Immediately after the follow-up home visit (4-week)

• Changes in anxiety and depression symptoms among older adults

  During the first home visit (T1, baseline); during the follow-up home visit (T2, 4-week)

• Changes in sleep quality among older adults

  During the first home visit (T1, baseline); during the follow-up home visit (T2, 4-week)

Other Outcomes (1)

• Qualitative feedback: students' perceptions of interprofessional training and its impact on IPE competency

  Within 1 month after the completion of the follow-up home visits (4-week)

Study Arms (1)

Interprofessional Education with Digital Case Management Platform

EXPERIMENTAL

This arm includes nursing and physiotherapy student participants who receive an interprofessional education intervention involving structured training workshops, supervised home visits, and use of a tablet-based digital case management platform. The intervention aims to enhance students' clinical competencies, digital health literacy, and interprofessional collaboration skills in the context of delivering home-based care to community-dwelling older adult participants with mild impairments. The older adult participants, referred through a local social service agency, receive health assessments, education, and personalised care planning during structured home visits conducted by student teams. The intervention also incorporates the use of mobile health messages and wearable devices to support follow-up care and engagement.

Behavioral: Interprofessional Education with Digital Case Management for Home-Based Elder Care

Interventions

Interprofessional Education with Digital Case Management for Home-Based Elder Care BEHAVIORAL

A structured interprofessional education programme for nursing and physiotherapy students that includes: (1) a 3-hour workshop on frailty assessment, digital case documentation, and care planning; (2) a 30-minute orientation on home visit safety and communication; (3) supervised home visits to older adult participants involving health and fitness assessments, medication support, and health education; (4) use of a tablet-based digital case management platform for collaborative care documentation; and (5) a 4-week follow-up with personalised mobile health messages and a final home visit. The intervention aims to enhance students' clinical, collaborative, and digital competencies in community-based elder care.

Interprofessional Education with Digital Case Management Platform

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Aged 18 years or above.
• Nursing students: Year 3 Higher Diploma in Nursing students at HKMU enrolled in NURS N222C Clinical Practicum. OR Physiotherapy students: Year 3 and Year 4 Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Physiotherapy students at HKMU enrolled in PHSI N212F Clinical Practicum II.
• Able to read Chinese and English, and speak Cantonese.
• Willing to participate in the training workshop and conduct home-based intervention.
• Older Adults
• Aged 60 years or above.
• Service users of AKA.
• Mild impairments (non-bedbound, physically capable of participating in simple exercises).
• Able to read Chinese and/communicate in Cantonese.
• Willing to participate in health surveys, home visits, and follow-ups, and to receive and respond to text messages.
• Must own a smartphone and know how to use it.
• Students

You may not qualify if:

• Unwilling to provide consent.
• Cannot read Chinese or speak Cantonese.
• Older adults
• Not a registered service user from AKA.
• Unwilling to provide consent.
• Cannot read Chinese or speak Cantonese.
• Unwilling to participate in the interventions conducted by students.
• Severe communication impairments.
• Do not own a smartphone.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hong Kong Metropolitan University: lead

Study Sites (1)

School of Nursing & Health Sciences, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Frailty

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Agnes YK Lai, PhD

  Hong Kong Metropolitan University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Agnes YK Lai, PhD

CONTACT

(852) 39702917; ayklai@hkmu.edu.hk

Grace Sun, PhD

CONTACT

(852) 39702916; gsun@hkmu.edu.hk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 27, 2025
• First Posted: September 19, 2025
• Study Start: September 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 31, 2026
• Last Updated: September 19, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

HK (1)